China Calls Trump-Xi G20 Summit Trade Talks As Very Successful

Chinese Commerce Ministry is hopeful to reach an agreement in the next 90 days

The Chinese Commerce Ministry has issued an official statement calling out the trade talks between President Donald Trump and Xi Jinping at the G-20 summit as very successful. The statement comes after Trump threatened to place major tariffs on imported Chinese goods if his administration is unable to reach an effective trade deal with Beijing.

The commerce ministry’s statement said that Beijing and Washington will move forward with trade negotiations in the next 90 days and they are hopeful that an agreement can be reached out between the world’s two largest economies. The statement said China would work to implement specific issues already agreed upon as quickly as possible.

State Councillor Wang Yi, the Chinese government’s top diplomat, said the trade talks had been extremely positive and constructive and helped in coming to a consensus that works in favor of both China and the United States.

Xi and Trump had “deep exchanges in a friendly and candid atmosphere”, Wang said, in a statement carried on the foreign ministry’s website, reported Reuters.

He added that the trade talks will not only safeguard China’s legitimate interests but also the interests of the United States and the expectations of the international community. However, Wang offered no new details on what China had agreed to with the United States.

Notably, Trump and Jinping have agreed to temporarily cease the ongoing bilateral trade war. As part of the agreement, the US government has decided to hold off on raising tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods from 10 percent to 25 percent on January 1. Beijing, in exchange, has agreed to buy an unspecified but very substantial amount of agricultural, energy, industrial and other products from the United States to help reduce the trade imbalance.

Furthermore, the two countries would launch a new round of trade talks to address issues including intellectual property, technology transfer, non-tariff barriers, cyber theft, and agriculture.